Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-11-30

ny the Lanu Nraht 1taitNdys-a WISE
Policy That Could Have Been Made
Wiser-sharp Correspondence Over the
Doorkeepership of the House.
WASHINGTON CITY, Nov. 80 Secretary
Lamar, in his forthcoming annual report,
will discuss at length the railroad land grant
laws and the adjustment of railroad grants
and indicate the policy of the president and
his administration in regard to them. He
will say that he soon became convinced, after
he had looked over the ground, that there
were enormous abuses in the admininistra-
ton of the laws relating to railway land
grants, some of which exceeded in extent
the area of half a dozen states, and were
doubled almost by the land withdrawn for
indemnity, and he then goes on;
"Thus enormous quantities of public land
were held in reservation to await the con-
venience Of the respective corporations in the
construction Of their roads the selections of
its lands, and the uncertain adjustments of
its grants by the department | did not for
a moment mean to question the wisdom of
aiding in the construction of railroads. The
policy was at the time a wise one, but in the
light ofexperiencei it may well be asked wheth-
or it would not have been wiser toGaye aided
these great enterprises otherwise than by
grants of the public domain. Though much
good has been wrought, certain it is that the
legislation by which these vast territories
passed under the dominion of railroad com
panies gave an lueurable wound to the
homestead scheme before the scheme had
fair opportunity for displaying its benefieent
effects. This land grant legislation WAS GER
tainly not in harmony with the theory Of
distribution of the public domain among the
peoplen =
Notwithstanding these indemnity with
drawals were made exclusively for the inter
ests of the company, few of these-if any of
them-constructei their roads within the
time prescr, ell in the granting act, as an
express condition on which the grant was
made Maps of probable, general 'desig-
mated and definite routes of said road were
filed with rapidity in the department, and
Withdrawals Hereunder asked and almost in
variably granted until the public land states
and territories were grid-ironed over with
railroad grants and indemnity limits, in
many instances the limits of one road over
tapping and conflicting with other roads in
the most bewildering manner so that the
settler seeking home could scarcely find
desirable location that was not claimed by
some one, or perhaps two or three, OF the
many roads TO which grants OF land had
been made by congress
Nor was this all Though the desired
tract might not be apparently covered by a
railroad location, the corporations would set
up claim TO it, or to the right to occupy
and 10 fba .f.rhf 81
This the settler, ignorant of his legal rights,
and with no one to advise him with respect
to either the law or the facts would for the
sake OF peace ami a home readily consent to
purchase from the company. In this way
these corporations, in addition to the lands
granted to them have claimed, sold, and re-
ceived the price of great deal of other land
to which they had neither legal nor moral
right nor the shadow of either. The con-
fusion, hardship and imposition practiced
upon the settlers were greatly increased by
the bold schemes of the corporate agents
whe Withdrawals were made of lands to
wh n the legal title of the companies had
not attached, and which afterward remained
in the same condition for years through the
failure of congress to make the necessary
appropriations for the surveys.
when, however, through partial surveys
or adjustments of grants lands thus sold by
a company were found to be outside Of the
grants, and determined by the department
to be public lands, the purchaser from the
company found himself in the unfortunate
predicament of having lost both his land and
his money Generally without the means II
enter into a costly litigation with powerful
h.. l.. a.
expenditure and waste of his years, his en-
ergy and strength, in redeemnIg that home
from its wild condition, rendered his mere
technical right of action against the com
pany but little more than mockery.
| -Years have elapsed since many Of the
| grants have been made and other years since
the withdrawals, Some of the companies
\ have constructed the entire line of their road.
others fragmentary portions only. and others
again, none at all; but the Withdrawals o.
/ the lands were no less effective as barrier
against the settlers in the one case than il
| the other 1t mattered not what might b,
his equities acquired by years of toll upor
what he believed to be part of the nationa
domain. 1t was declared by the highest iu
dical tribunal, as expounded by the highes
law officers of the executive, that with
drawal once made by competent authority
was legal aud effective to exclude all from
intrusion within its limits"
The secretary refers to the Guldford Mil
Ter case, which has been printed in these dis
| patches, and then says that congress, after
years of failure to appropriate money t.
make the necessary surveys, in March, 1887
passed bill directing the secretary of tbs
interior to Immediately adjust each of thu
railway grants, and after a close study Of tbs
subject, the score tary concluded that if the
department was clothed with authority t.
make indemnity Withdrawals, as had beer
| done in so many instan ces the exercise oil
that authority was a matter entirely within
sound discretion, and not matter of Iega
obligation in any respect; that the SAM
sou, discretion which, in the interests o
the companies, justified said withdrawal
now demanded peremptorily in the public
interest speedy revocation of the same, ant
that the most effective way OF expedting al
| adjustment of the land grants and doing
| exact justice to the companies, guard ng aDC
promoting the interests Of the settlers also
was to permit the public to enter into compe
tition with the companies in the selection o
|
| purposes
Accordingly an order was made for the
different companies to show cause why tn,
indemnity lands should not be thrown open
for settlement Some companies assenteC
| fully, others on certain conditions, and other
refused to assent; but the land commissions
was instructed to proceed as rapidly as pos
sible with the ad jdstments, and the result wa
the freeing of q, 323, 600 acres of land from
the grasp of the corporations. This was dom
with the purpose in view all the time OF deal
ing justly and according to law with all th
railways involved, and that purpose is be
lieved to have been accomplished
The secretary again urges the appropria
ton by congress of the necessary money t
complete surveys, without which the adj just
ment of these matters is not possible at al
early day, though such early adjustment
very desirable
Depredstions on the Postoffic es.
WASHINGTON CITY, Nov. 3V-The repor
Of Gen. West, chief postoifice inspector, show
"A \